The gasification of heavy oils in an oxidationcracking mechanism in the presence of steam and oxygen, particularly high purity oxygen of 90 percent quality or higher, is well known. An example is the Schuman U.S. Pat. No. 2,875,150. Heretofore, however, the products sought have frequently been in the gasoline boiling range or high BTU gas. Catalysts were commonly required and several stages of gasification and contact, in a fluidized bed of solids, were used. Regeneration of solids with continued recycle of large masses of solids and reforming operations have also been disclosed. Other typical patents are Hubman U.S. Pat. No. 2,094,946; Finneran No. U.S. Pat. No. 2,861,943; and Woebcke U.S. Pat. No. 2,861,631.
It is now recognized that the current sources of fuel in the nature of residual oils are becoming more expensive to treat due to the contaminants of sulfur and organo-metallic compounds contained therein. High sulfur residual oil cannot normally be burned in industrial areas unless treated to remove sulfur at a prohibitively high cost. Low sulfur oil is available only at a premium cost. Current limitations, and prospective future more drastic limitations, by anti-pollution agencies in many areas limit the operations of gas turbines and/or boilers to liquid fuels having less than 0.3 wt. percent sulfur. This low level of sulfur is generally available only in light distillate type liquid fuels which are in increasingly short supply.